Singing Therapy is different from a singing lesson. Clients that have come for Singing Therapy have included people with specific muscular problems and disorders like Dystonia, Stuttering, post stroke paralysis affecting speech and people with special needs for example Autism and Down's Syndrome. Clients with these disabilities are usually focusing on either eliminating particular muscular problems by unwinding old muscle memory, or are using singing and the muscles associated with voice production as a focus to aid the re-programming of neural pathways which help alleviate symptoms of their condition. Each client is usually very different and a specific regime is developed using a series of voice and breath related exercises to suit individual needs. The session, although often very hard work, is fun and light hearted, offering a time to escape from the norm.

During a Singing Therapy session you will be asked to follow a series of exercises for both body and voice that will help you breathe more efficiently, helping to calm a number of stress and anxiety based problems and disorders whilst having fun!Singing Therapy can also be used to alleviate cases of stress, anxiety and panic attacks, where patterns have built up in the body and need to be re-programmed. This is done by creating a strong awareness of the self, identifying the trigger points for various negative emotions and then teaching the body to do the opposite.

After an initial consultation to determine your needs and goals you will be given physical and vocal exercises to do. The idea of these exercises that can often seem quite strange and childlike (even stupid at times!) is to unwind old physical and mental patterns in the body that might be causing problems. Instead of telling somebody “not” to do something, they are given an exercise that helps them to achieve the “not doing”. Sometimes patterns are so ingrained within us, we cannot simply just stop. We have to divert our attention and “do” something different.

”Modern” medicine is now beginning to discover the benefits of singing to ease stress and aid relaxation as it provides a workout for muscles in the pelvis, stomach, chest, neck and so on. It encourages deep breathing, increased circulation and a “feel good” vibe in the body, due to endorphins released into the blood, and it doesn’t stop there. Research shows that singing can help stroke patients and people with speech problems to articulate and speak again. Often when someone has a stroke they damage the left side of the brain, responsible for speech. However singing uses the right side of the brain and this can help the person communicate again by reactivating vocal muscles. If a person can’t say it, they can sing it! (Also known as Melodic Intonation Therapy)